


The fight is over

by phantomofthehoepera



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Gen, One Piece Movie 6: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island, also feel free to interpret this as lusopp because they ARE in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:14:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24570658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomofthehoepera/pseuds/phantomofthehoepera
Summary: A night in the crow's nest (Title from the blasting company song of the same name)
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Usopp
Comments: 10
Kudos: 52





	The fight is over

Usopp stretches, the blanket wrapped around his shoulders slipping down a bit, and fights back a yawn. The night is calm, and just warm enough that the blanket isn’t necessary, just nice to have. That, along with the ship’s steady rocking is making it harder than usual for Usopp to stay awake on his watch, but he’s managed to fight sleep off so far, and he’s not about to quit with just over an hour until sunrise. 

With another yawn, one which he doesn’t bother keeping in, he leans over the edge of the crow’s nest, looking down at  _ Merry’s  _ deck. Now and then on previous watches he’s seen someone wandering, and that’ll usually get him some entertainment on the kind of boring watch job. He remembers one particular occasion, when Zoro had sleep walked and nearly fell into the water before Usopp managed to wake him up. Zoro had made him swear not to tell anyone ( _ “Especially not that piece of shit cook.” _ ) and Usopp has never planned to, but it’s fun to think back on, and even more fun to gently tease Zoro about. 

Usopp snickers to himself, as his eyes travel over deck, soon finding some movement. Luffy’s sat on his usual spot, atop the figurehead, and his hat is moving slightly with the breeze. Usopp isn’t quite sure when he got there, so perhaps he did nod off for a moment, but now that he knows he’s there he sees no reason not to call for his attention. 

“Yo! Luffy!” He waves as Luffy turns around, looking a bit startled, which is unusual, but Usopp decides not to worry about it. 

“Out on a midnight stroll are we?” His tone is joking, but Luffy doesn’t pick up on the banter. Instead he just nods, and murmurs something that Usopp’s way too far away from him to hear. Now  _ that  _ is worrying. A startled Luffy is one thing, but a quiet Luffy always makes Usopp a little uneasy. 

“Hey,” he says, now more serious. “Wanna come up and sit with me?” 

Luffy usually likes sitting alone on the figurehead, but Usopp can’t see the hurt in at least extending the invitation, and Luffy is looking frightfully lonely tonight. Like a boy on a figurehead, not the future pirate king looking over the seas he’s yet to conquer. 

Luffy is still for a moment, but then stands up and starts walking towards the main mast, to Usopp’s relief. Soon, he hears the distinct sound of Luffy’s arm stretching, and looks down just as his hand grips the side of the crow’s nest. The moment he has a good grip, Luffy follows his hand up, but Usopp can’t help but be reminded of a slack hairtie, even Luffy’s movements seemingly a bit gloomy. 

“Hey,” he repeats, as Luffy climbs into the nest and sits down next to Usopp without a word. He keeps a foot’s distance at first, but then leans - almost flops - against Usopp, who opens his blanket and wraps it around both of them, even if Luffy rarely gets cold. It just feels best to keep him close, especially tonight. And since Luffy isn’t saying anything, Usopp stays silent as well, just stroking Luffy’s hair softly. 

Minutes pass. After a while, Usopp almost thinks Luffy has fallen asleep and is sorely tempted to join him. The heat of them both under the blanket is making him a lot drowsier and there’s not much time of his watch left anyway, so maybe he can afford to doze off for just a moment…

“Usopp,” Luffy mumbles and Usopp is suddenly wide awake. Luffy’s turned slightly, so his face is pressed against Usopp’s shirt, and his breath tickles a bit when he speaks. 

“Yeah?” Usopp asks. 

“Do you remember Omatsuri Island?” 

Now that’s a strange question. It hasn’t been that long, but with the insanity of the Foxy pirates and running into an admiral fresh in his memory, Usopp hasn’t thought that hard about the place. Now, raking through his memory, he can’t think of anything that would prompt Luffy to ask about it. Sure, he and Nami had that fight, but it passed, like always. None of the crew ever stay mad at each other for long, except for maybe Zoro and Sanji. And that’s a whole different story. 

“I do,” Usopp says. “There was some resort we never got to see. And a goldfish, right?” 

“No, that’s not-” Luffy cuts himself off, and Usopp can feel him shaking his head. “Forget it.” 

“I’m not gonna let you breeze past that,” Usopp protests. “You’re obviously upset, so talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.” 

Luffy doesn’t say anything. He just grips the back of Usopp’s shirt like he’ll fall if he doesn’t, and shakes his head again. And now Usopp is  _ really  _ worried, because he can feel his shirt grow wet where Luffy’s face is pressed against it. 

“Luffy…” he begins, but can’t think of anything to say and just trails off. Luffy’s sobbing now, quietly, but still, and his shoulders shake with each sob. It’s making Usopp want to cry as well, but he forces himself to keep his voice steady as he finally comes up with something to say. 

“I’m here for you, okay.” His voice trembles slightly at the end, but it finally gets Luffy to say something. 

“You’ll never leave?” 

The way he says it is terrifying, at least to Usopp. In contrast to the self-assured way Luffy will announce someone his friend, how he’d invited Usopp to the crew like it wasn’t even a question, just a matter-of-fact statement. This, however, is a question, and an almost desperate one. Like Luffy can’t bring himself to hope for the answer he wants. 

“Of course not.” Usopp’s cheeks are wet now, and he pulls Luffy into a tight embrace, burying his face in the crook of Luffy’s neck and clinging on as tight as Luffy himself. Like they’re both fighting not to drown now. 

“I’m not going anywhere. None of us are.” He tightens his arms around Luffy as his sobs grow louder, now almost closer to screams, and it breaks his heart that he can’t for the life of him understand  _ why.  _ That he can’t tell Luffy they’ll never go through whatever horror it is he’s remembering, can’t compare it to all the other incredible things their crew has survived and make it seem small in comparison. All he can do is keep stroking Luffy’s hair as his sobs grow quieter again, and as he slowly falls asleep. Keep him close, as the sun rises and paints the sky a beautiful orange. 

**Author's Note:**

> rewatched movie six and it hurt me deeply so have this. don't forget to like comment and subscribe and hit the bell button


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